Overcoming Anxiety Atlanta GA

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We all know that anxiety is bad for our health. Anxiety can range from mild unease to intense fear. If your anxiety falls toward the intense fear end of the spectrum, you'll need to consult a health professional. Anxiety may be a symptom of other mental health problems that a professional can assess. But if your anxiety falls more toward the worry end of the spectrum, then this article is for you.

To learn to stop worrying and overcome anxiety, you will need to be in touch with how you feel. Your feelings are guideposts meant to give you information and feedback about you and your place in the world. For some of you, being in touch with how you feel will require laying off substances that numb, distract, distance, or otherwise remove you from experiencing the present moment. "But that's why I use those substances in the first place," you say? As long as you keep avoiding feelings rather than feeling them, the feelings will return so as to provide you the opportunity to experience them. I'm not advising you to drop all addictions in one fell swoop, but if you want to stop worrying, you are going to have to become more conscious of how you feel, and becoming more conscious of how you feel means being present, not comfortably numb in la la land. Upset stomach? Do you have any idea why? Your stomach is trying to tell you something: Don't wait for an ulcer to make the message unavoidable. And no, another drink won't help.

OK, now that I've lost the dabblers, let's move on. The trick to learning to overcome anxiety is to train your mind to observe the good things that are happening now rather than the bad things that either did happen in the past or might happen in the future. Here's a checklist to get you started:

1. Remain in the present moment as much as possible. If you skip quickly over this point, saying, "Yea, yea, I know that one already," guess again. Remaining in the present moment is incredibly difficult. Whether it's reviewing what you need to pick up at the grocery store on the way home or trying to discern what your boss really meant yesterday when she said x, odds are you're doing anything but being here now. A few tricks to getting yourself into the present moment include bringing your attention into your body and sensing how it feels from the inside out. Paying attention to your breathing helps. Meditation (even just a few minutes per day) does wonders. This is because as you sit quietly and observe your mind on her hamster wheel, you notice when the hamster wheel stops. Not surprisingly, it's a good feeling; one that you begin to want to return to in everyday life. This is the beginning of the discipline you will need to keep your mind off the hamster wheel and in the present moment.
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Author: Vanessa Raymond